Pan's People dancer dies aged 63

Louise Clarke, one of the founding members of Top Of The Pops dance troupe Pan's People, has died at the age of 63, her publicist said.

PUBLISHED: 19:23, Sat, Aug 25, 2012

Louise Clarke and Pan's People last appeared on Top Of The Pops in April 1976 [PA]

Ms Clarke, who formed the group with Flick Colby, Babs Lord, Ruth Pearson, Dee Dee Wilde and Andi Rutherford in 1966, died from heart failure after suffering poor health for two years.

She is the second member of the group to pass away following the death of Ms Colby at the age of 65 in May last year.

The dancer's son Tony, stepson Anthony, stepdaughter Helen and grandsons Paul and Hugo were at her side at Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk after she was admitted on Friday, her friend and publicist Philip Day said.

"She was a lovely, lovely lady, she was a real darling," he said.

"Having represented Pan's People as their publicist for more than 40 years, this comes as a tremendous shock, especially as we only lost co-founder and choreographer Flick Colby in May of last year.

"Of all the clients I have had the good fortune to represent during all of those years, they were perhaps the most fun to work with, certainly the easiest to work with, were loyal to a fault and the very best at what they did."

The dance troupe provided the visual entertainment when an artist could not appear on the BBC chart show and became a staple of 1960s and 1970s TOTP.

They last appeared on the programme in April 1976, dancing to Silver Star by The Four Seasons.